Card holder



E. B. GRAY CARD HOLDER May 26, 1936.

Filed Oct. 50, 1955 Patented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECARD HOLDER Edward B. Gray, New Bedford, Mass.

Application October 30, 1935, Serial No. 47,421

5 Claims.

cards without folding, in which the cards are held securely beyondpossibility of accidental dislodgement in ordinary circumstances, and toenable the cards to be separately and individually inserted and removedWithout necessitating disturbance of other cards.

Holders embodying this invention may be made conveniently of sheetmetal, and preferably are made of that material by cutting and stampingor pressing between dies. But the invention is not limited as tomaterial or method of forming the material into its finished condition,but includes as Well equivalent structures made by molding or pressingplastic material, or by casting; provided the material in its finalcondition is substantially rigid, at least to the extent that it is noteasily deformable under ordinary conditions of use.

In the drawing,-

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention made of sheet metal;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modificationinvolving a slight difference of form as to the rear panels of the cardholding pockets.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occurin all the figures.

The holder is essentially a plate of suitable material designated as awhole by the reference letter a. It is provided with rows and columns ofcard holding pockets by forwardly offset panels or strap members b andrear panels 0. The parts b and c alternate with one another in alinedcolumns and are separated from one another by transverse slots, cuts orspaces. Thus the panels or straps b are divided from the body of theplate at their upper and lower edges, but are connected thereto at theiropposite ends, throughout their entire height, wherefore they are maderigid and incapable of bending or displacement in normal usage. In thepreferred form the parts b are offset to a greater extent at their upperthan at their lower edges, and may be offset slightly or not at all attheir lower edges, while the panels 0 are preferably offset rearwardlyin their upper parts, and not at all, or only to a slight extent, lessthan the offsetting of such upper parts, at their lower edges. When madefrom sheet metal, 5 a plate or sheet of any dimensions may be thusworked by dies suitably constructed and shaped to cut parallel andproperly separated slits in the sheet metal and offset the materialbetween such slits alternately forwardly and rearwardly in the 10 mannerdescribed. By repeated treatment of different parts of a large sheet bysuch dies, rows of pockets of any desired length, and any desired numberof such rows side by side, may be made in a single holder. The drawingshows five such 5 columns of six pockets or card spaces each, which issimply illustrative of the principle. Also, when made of sheet metal,the upper margins of the rearwardly offset panels are preferably beveledforwardly, or parallel to the plane of the holder, 20

as indicated at C in Fig. 2, in order to avoid the occurrence ofscooplike edges which might cut or mar the finish of a desk or table onwhich the holder may be laid.

When the holder is provided for use without a 5;

designated by the letter d in the drawing, tobe easily inserted, firmlyheld, and prevented from falling out or dropping through the slitsbetween 5 the offset parts. A person inserting a card holds it by theupper end and slips it downward behind one of the ofiset straps b in adirection which causes its advancing end to pass in front of the upperedge of the next lower panel 0. Passage of the card in front of ratherthan behind the lower panel is facilitated by the relatively widedisplacement of the upper part of the strap 11 and the downward andforward inclination of the rearward panel next above it which, if the 45advancing end of the card is pressed against such upper panel by themanipulator, gives a forward impulse to the advancing edge. In passingbeyond or below the strap, the advancing end of the card bears againstthe next lower panel and is Q inclined forwardly thereby, substantiallyas represented in Fig. 2. The bending or springing of the card thuseffected strongly holds the card in place, and causes the next lowercard in the series 55 to obstruct the upper card, preventing too deep aninsertion of the latter. Thus, referring to Fig. 2, it will be notedthat the lowermost part of the upper card, represented by the letter d,is inclined at a distinct angle to the overlapping part of the nextlower card in the series, whereby it is obstructed. Hence if. the cardsare placed one after another in upward series, the first card inserted(the lowest one) is arrested by the turned up lip, or bottom framemember of the holder, and the upper cards are each stopped, by the nextlower one, after insertion to a uniform distance.

In a holder designed for cards of a given thickness, the straps orpanels b are preferably set forward from the next higher panel adistance substantially greater than the thickness of the card butslightly less than twice the thickness of the card; although theseproportions are not limiting. And the rearwardly offset parts arepreferably offset to a greater distance from the lower edge of the strapnext above than the forward offset of the upper edge .of the strapmember.

However, the rearward offsetting of alternate panels is not an essentialof the invention, and Fig. 3 shows a modification in which there is nosuch rearward offset. That is, the panels 0 remain in the original planeof the holder, but are formed with their lower lip 0 offset forwardly toprovide an abutment limiting the insertion of the card, either bydirectly obstructing it or by deflecting its advancing end. Theforwardly offset panels or straps b are, however, the same in this formas in the one first described. The abutment lip may be used also withthe offset and inclined type of panel such as that first described.

Holders which are molded from other materials than sheet metal inaccordance with the invention, have equivalent characteristics to thosedescribed with more or less modification in detail suitable to thespecific material employed.

Such holders are adapted to contain cards or tickets appropriated toseats, or the occupants of seats, in a school room or auditorium; or toshow the schedule of activities in a number rooms in a school, ordepartments of other organizations. It may serve likewise as a directoryof the occupants of a building, and for a wide variety of other usesunnecessary to enumerate.

In the present description and the appended claims, the term card isintended to include anything similar to a card in the characteristics ofrelatively large length and width dimensions in proportion to thickness,whether actually made of a single piece or ply of cardboard, or of anumber of plies, whether of cardboard or other material.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A holder comprising a body portion having alternate panels separatedfrom one another by parallel cuts or slits while being integrally joinedat their ends with the body, alternate panels being offset forwardlybetween their ends sufiiciently to admit passage of a card behind themand in front of the panels immediately adjacent above and below.

2. A holder comprising a body portion havin alternate panels separatedfrom one another by parallel cuts or slits while being integrally joinedat their ends with the body, alternate panels being offset forwardlybetween their ends sufiiciently to admit passage of a card behind themand in front of the panels immediately adjacent above and. below, thesaid adjacent panels having a forward inclination at or adjacent totheir lower edges.

3. A holder comprising a body having substantially parallel transverseslits, the material bounded by alternate pairs of slits being offsetforwardly and the intermediate material being offset rearwardly; all ofsaid offset portions being thus offset to a greater extent at theirupper than at their lower parts.

4. A card holder consisting of a body having card pockets constituted bystrap portions integrally united to the body of the holder at their 3opposite ends and offset between their ends sufficiently to admit cardsbetween themselves and the contiguous areas of the body at either sideof them.

5. A card holder consisting of a body having card pockets constituted bystrap portions integrally united to'the body of the holder at theiropposite ends and offset between their ends sufficiently to admit cardsbetween themselves and the contiguous areas of the body at either sideof them, the areas or panels of the holder immediately below each offsetportion being so formed as to engage and deflect the advancing end of aninserted card.

EDWARD B. GRAY.

